WitchLove (17 page)

‘Yeah, I agree,’ Noah said.

‘What I’m worried about is how the New York vampires will receive me anyway. I mean, in the UK the northern and southern clans are very exclusive. They don’t like intruders and guests have to ask permission from the area leaders to feed in their area. How are we going to get around that?’ I asked.

‘Don’t worry, I have everything under control, but Brit will have to stay at my flat. There’s no way she can go with you because a vampire travelling with a witch, who she’s not feeding from, will look obvious straight away.’

‘No way I’m staying home,’ Brittany said. ‘We can get me some contacts too. I’ll go blue, and then no one will know I’m a witch. I can just be a human girl.’

‘It won’t work… that is unless you want to be Jess’s pet and let her feed from you, but if that was the case then why would Jess need to visit the club anyway? It won’t work Brit,’ he said.

‘Well, what if I wear contacts and just go to the club as a human girl… without you two, then I can still keep an eye on her, but stay out of the way,’ she said.

‘Nope, too dangerous, the human girls that go to the club, inevitably become dinner at some point and even though we both know the majority of vampires aren’t dangerous, I don’t want to be worrying about you
and
Jess,’ he said.

‘You don’t have to worry about me. I can look after myself,’ she said.

‘You’re not coming Brit, that’s that. Anyway, you’re under age.’

‘Well so is Jess. She’s still seventeen
officially
.’

‘Very funny. I’ll be seventeen next year too, and the year after that,’ I said. ‘Brit, you know he’s right. I’ll be fine, don’t worry.’

‘I’m not worried, but I don’t want to miss out on the fun,’ she said, pouting.

‘Look, you’re still fifteen. There’s no way you can go,’ I said.

‘I’m nearly sixteen and I could easily try a little aging spell,’ she said.

‘And magic is exactly what will give us all away,’ Noah said.

‘Fine,’ she said. ‘But I want you to stay in contact with mobiles and I don’t want to be sat up all night worrying, or else I
will
come out, find the club and sneak in… danger or not.’

‘Okay, I will. So I’m going with you then, Noah? I take it you know the vampires because of that girl… India?’ I asked.

‘Yup, we’re meeting her. She’s getting you in.’

‘You’ve told her about me? I squeaked.

‘Yes. There’s no point lying about you because she knows who my family is and pretty much every supe in the area knows you are staying with my family at the moment. So if I told her I met a vampire, or if I was the one that took you to the club it would give the game away, just as much as you being with Brittany would, maybe more.’

‘What, so you’re not coming?’ I asked.

‘I’m taking you to meet India and she’s taking you to the club. She’s nice; we can trust her. She won’t give you away,’ he said.

‘Noah, I barely trust anyone. Whenever I do, things go pear-shaped,’ I said.

‘Look it’ll be fine, we can go meet her and if you don’t feel comfortable with her, then you don’t have to go.’

‘Well, I’m coming to meet this vampire too,’ Brittany said. ‘I’ll stay away from the club, but I’m coming with you to see India. We can decide together.’

‘Okay.’

‘Deal,’ I said.

We got to Noah’s student housing just after lunch and on finding the apartment empty, decided to dump our bags and head out in search of food for Noah and Brit in Greenwich Village. Mine would come later.

After they’d stuffed their faces on deli sandwiches Brit and I began our assault.

‘Come on Noah, we’re going to go, even if you don’t take us,’ I said.

‘And your Mom will be very displeased with you if she finds out you didn’t take us sightseeing as you promised.’

‘Yeah Noah, what was it you told your Mom? I’m sure it was “Mom, they can’t live this close to New York and not see the sights,” I mimicked in a phoney American drawl.

‘Fine, we’ll go to Central Park,’ he said.

‘And Times Square,’ I said.

‘And The Empire State Building,’ Brittany added.

‘And Ground Zero…’

‘Well that’s just a couple of blocks away,’ he said.

‘And what about some shops, Brittany? I think we need to get some shopping in,’ I smirked.

‘No, no, no! Absolutely no shopping. You’ll have to do that on your own tomorrow,’ he said.

‘Where to first then?’ we chorused.

Manhattan Island may be a fairly small place, but there was far too much to get around in one afternoon. We kept at it though and at sunset we squeezed ourselves into the jammed lifts rising up the Empire State building. Looking back it probably wasn’t the best plan in the world, me being a half-starved vampire, but I managed by clamping my mouth shut, hiding the fangs and stopping the breathing, which earned me a couple of freaked out stares from nearby tourists. The view was worth it though. By eight, Noah and Brittany trudged behind me as we made our way back, my thirst increasing with the tiredness brought on by being in daylight for so long. They tore their way through a take-away whilst I got myself ready. What should I wear?

‘What do the New York vampires wear, Noah?’ I called through from his room, where Brit and I were camping out.

‘Clothes,’ he said.

‘Ha ha! No, really? Shall I wear black… or jeans? Eva said that in Paris they were all into Steam Punk, but I don’t…’

‘Jess, chill. You can’t do magic, so wear whatever clothes you’ve brought,’ he said.

Typical man!

‘Well, I’ve brought quite a bit, so do you think I should go for skinny jeans, black jeans, leather jeans… or I could wear a long skirt and boots… or maybe a short denim mini and leggings…’

‘Jess! Jeez, whatever, okay! It doesn’t matter.’

‘Well what does India tend to wear?’ I asked.

Noah let out a long slow sigh and admitting defeat got up from the sofa and came to find me in his room.

‘Oh God!’ he said. ‘What the hell have you done to my room, and how the hell did you fit all that in your bag. You only had a small kit bag…’ he said frowning.

I shrugged. ‘I spelled the bag. It was a Level Five spell and I needed to practice.’

‘Right, of course,’ he drawled, humour crinkling his eyes. ‘Well, you look fine as you are. What does Brit think?’

‘I said the same. Black skinny jeans, cute top, leather jacket, she can’t go wrong,’ Brittany said.

‘But what does India wear?’ I persisted.

‘Err, I dunno. Jeans maybe. Yeah, she’s a trousers girl… I think,’ he said.

I looked at Brittany and raised a brow.

‘Boys!’ she said.

We met India at ten o’ clock in a café near her flat, or as Noah called it, her
condo
in Greenwich. She was small, cute and looked about nineteen. She had bedhead, blonde shoulder length hair and a button nose, along with all the typical vampire attributes like red-brown eyes and perfect, pale skin. I was relieved to see she was dressed similarly to me, in a pair of dark skinny jeans and a hot pink t-shirt.

‘Hi, I’m India,’ she said. ‘You must be Jess, right… and Brittany?’ she asked, looking at Brit who sat next to me at our table.

I nodded. ‘Hi.’

‘But, we better not call you that. Any ideas for a new name?’

‘Hmm, how about Jo, because that way if you start saying the
J
you can easily change tack,’ Noah said.

‘Good plan,’ she said.

‘Right, this is the story. I’ve already told Vincent… that’s the vamp that runs the New York clan… that I have a friend coming from England. I told him I met you over there, thirty years ago and you need to get away for a while and will be staying here for a couple of months. That should be enough, yeah?’

‘Won’t that make him wonder what I’m running away from? He might start asking around the UK clans,’ I asked.

‘No, he’s not bothered. Vampires fall out all the time. Once you’re free of your fifty or hundred year contract you can do as you please… and I needed a reason that would ensure you could attend the club with me every couple of weeks, right?’

‘Err... yes, that would be brilliant,’ I said.

‘I mean, you could come every week, but it might be tricky getting away from Malden without raising suspicion.’

‘Yeah, there’s no way Mom will let her visit every week. She’ll suss something’s up,’ Noah said.

‘So is there anything else I need to know?’ I asked.

‘No, not really… Oh! Maybe keep away from the triplets,’ she said.

‘The triplets?’

‘Yeah, they are this weird, ancient set of boy triplets, all blonde, identical and really freaky. You’ll know them if you see them. You’d do well to stay clear of them.’

‘Right okaaay! Avoid triplets, check!’ I said grinning. ‘How old are they?’

‘No one really knows. They look about our age, but in vampire age I’d say more than five hundred because they came before Vincent, but they don’t have the wherewithal to run the clan. Come on, you’ll be fine, just stick with me. Noah, I’ll bring her back to yours before one, okay?’ she said.

‘I’m not a kid you know?’ I said, feeling a little miffed, as if I was being treated like I needed a babysitter.

‘You are really, Jess. In vampire terms you’re still a baby, and I’m two hundred and twenty-five.’

‘Wow! I guess that does put things into perspective a little,’ Brittany said with a grin and a sharp nudge in the side. ‘It’s like going clubbing with your great, great, great granny!’

India paused, not amused, and glared at Brittany, who seeing the transformation from sweet teenager to totally terrifying top predator, wisely chose to shut-up.

‘Come on,’ India said.

Brittany and I stood up and Noah went to pay the coffee bill. Brittany flung her arms round me and hugged me tight.

‘Stay safe, Jess. You’re the only friend I’ve got; and my family too,’ she said.

‘I will, and I’ll be back by one, okay?’

‘Promise?’

‘Definitely, we’ll be back by one. Promise.’

There was a queue outside the club, but they were all humans, a mix of college students and goth kids, the typical mix that reminded me of Exodus back home. India led me straight to the front of the queue and smiled at the bodyguard.

‘Hey Vlad, how’s it going?’ she said.

‘Quiet tonight, Miss India and so much nicer now I’ve seen you,’ he said in a southern drawl. ‘And who is your lovely friend?’

‘This is Jo, my friend from England. She’s over here for a couple of months to escape a little trouble. You know how it is…’ she said smiling.

Vlad nodded and grinned.

‘Well Miss, I sure do hope you don’t bring your troubles with you now. Have a nice night.’

‘Vlad?’ I whispered to India once we were in the club.

She grinned.

‘It’s not his real name. I think he’s called Keith, but he got a bit of a reputation when he was a newborn and earned the name Vlad from…’

‘The Impaler right?’ I interrupted.

‘Yup, but he’s sweet as a kitten now - age has chilled him out. Still, his reputation precedes him, so he’s good to have around on door duties.’

India led me through the club, straight across the already heaving dance floor and over to a large round table in the corner of the club.

‘Vincent, this is my friend Jo I told you about, from England,’ India said, once we reached the table.

The table had five vampires sitting round it, on a curved velvet-covered couch. They had dark bottles set in front of them and all stopped their discussion and stared at me, as we walked over.

I nodded my head, smiled and looked at the floor. I presumed, like Sebastian, they too would appreciate a few old-fashioned manners.

‘Jo, welcome. Whereabouts in England are you from? My friend here tells me they have had some trouble with warring clans in the UK recently.’

This was exactly what I didn’t want to get into.

‘Urmm yes, I believe so. I don’t really know as I haven’t been living in either town myself for decades. I find the cities often carry more trouble in them.’

‘And yet you chose to come here, to one of the largest cities in the world,’ he said, flashing a little fang.

‘Only for a short time. A couple of months is about all I can manage, then I may head south for the winter.’

‘What? A vampire that doesn’t like the cold?’ he said, as the others all laughed at my expense.

‘No sir, I mean that I’d like to go south, but could not attempt it during their hot season.’

‘Sir, we ask permission to hunt in your club tonight, with the promise that no one shall be harmed and no one shall suspect our true nature,’ India interrupted.

Vincent looked at her sharply, but she shot back a disarming smile and took my hand.

‘Fine, go on then,’ he said dismissing us.

‘There, you see. I told you it would be fine. Vincent is cool. As long as we don’t threaten his mini-empire, he keeps us on a long leash.’

I smiled and looked around the club. It was heaving with young, slightly sweaty people, smiling, dancing… not knowing they could be my dinner.

‘So let’s go hunting,’ India said, linking her arm through mine.

The club felt uncomfortably like Exodus and I kept seeing Daniel everywhere. I squinted across the heaving dance floor at a tall, dark, wavy-haired guy and set off, instinctively pulling India after me.

‘Hey, where we going? Have you seen someone tasty?’ she said, laughing down my ear.

‘Yeah… maybe,’ I said, suddenly realising the last thing I’d want to do is bump into Daniel here, as apart from anything else, that would totally give my identity away.

The guy turned round and I held my breath, but it was just some American guy with a large chin. I shook my head. What was I thinking?

‘Oh, you’ve stopped,’ India said.

‘Yeah, changed my mind,’ I said.

‘Well, I have an idea. From what Noah tells me and the rumours I’ve heard about you through the vampire grapevine, you’re pretty knew to all this, so I’m betting you’ve not bitten a girl yet, have you?’

I shook my head slowly, eyes unsure.

‘I think it would be weird,’ I said.

‘It’s not at all. Girls are nice, and some are oh so sweet. When you start out as a vampire, feeding inevitably becomes entangled with sex, but once you get past that, the menu gets much more varied.’